American Adventure Part 2: Weddings, Golf Carts and More Weddings

We woke to a beautiful sunny day on Thursday so we spent the day lying in the sun, swimming and napping, the perfect cottage day. Of course Friday we were back up and at it leaving early so that they could drop me off at a spa in Vermont to meet Michelle and the other bridesmaids for some pedicures. We had the rehearsal in the afternoon before going into Burlington for the rehearsal dinner at Sweetwater. It was very good food and a nice chance for everyone to spend some time together before the craziness of the wedding day.

Gail had arranged a table for my parents and some of her cousins near the rehearsal dinner so they could see Michelle and Justin too and Jess, PJ and Andrew stopped by after visiting the Magic Hat Brewing Company (jealous) and having dinner at Boves (even more jealous, my dad used to stop by here on his way home from work to bring the pasta sauce home for dinner, it was always such a treat). With the formal rehearsal out of the way Gail invited some people back to her house for some drinks before us girls settled in to be well rested for the next day.

I have to admit that I have not cried as much at a wedding as I did at Michelle’s. it started first thing in the morning when Michelle and I sat on her mom’s porch, I think we only managed a few words to each other before we both started tearing up. That set the way for the rest of the day. We took over a hair salon for the morning to snack, drink mimosas and chat while oooing and awwwing over each other’s hair-dos. From there we went to the Catamount Country Club where the wedding and reception was taking place. The country club has a second floor the looks down to the first floor from a balcony and this is where we got ready and could peak down to guests and the groomsmen gathering down below.

Michelle was pleased that everyone was running a bit early for the day so we had plenty of time to calmly get ready before we need to go down for the ceremony. To get to the ceremony site we drove golf carts down, and by ‘we’ I do mean that I got to drive. I drove Michelle’s little sister Natalie who I was walking behind. It was a beautiful sunny day and before you know it we were all standing up front crying along with Justin as Michelle walked down the aisle. The ceremony was short but very sweet and soon we were back in the golf carts to drive around to a few sites for photographs. Back at the clubhouse we were announced once the photographs were done and they quickly got to the speeches, more crying and dinner.

Since the wedding was at a country club we were given access to the driving range

Dad was the only one of the three of us who had good form and actually hit the ball

The night was filled with dancing and it seemed like before I could blink they were announcing the last song. We managed to spend a bit more time with Michelle and Justin since they stayed at the same hotel with us before leaving bright and early for their honeymoon. One wedding down, one to go.

Even though it's a bit blurry you can see
Mom and Dad dancing away in the background

The garter toss, the best part is that it ended up on top of the A/C unit and they had to climb up to get it down

Andrew, Jess, PJ and myself met Mom and Dad at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory for a tour and the breakfast of champions before continuing back to the cottage for a big family bbq. Andrew and I finally got to meet Crew, the first great-grandchild who is absolutely charming. It was another beautiful sunny day that we all took advantage of swimming and chatting on the beach.

We spent some time exploring the Flavor Graveyard to see what didn't last long

And now we are off for our next week of adventures so stay tuned for the rest of the US fun.

Coming Soon, American Adventure Part 3: The City of Brotherly Love and Even More Weddings....